The present invention relates to a capsule designed to be extracted under pressure and containing a substance for the preparation of a food product such as a beverage.
Cartridges designed to be extracted under pressure and containing a substance for the preparation of a beverage already exist on the market. European Patent Application EP 0512468 relates to such a cartridge. The cartridge is intended to be inserted into an extraction system. The cartridge is thus opened against a supporting part of the system comprising raised elements under the effect of the pressure of the fluid entering the cartridge. The problem with this cartridge is that the beverage extracted from the cartridge runs over this supporting part and through ducting means, which means that it is difficult, if not impossible, for contamination and taste reasons, to envisage extracting with this system cartridges containing substances other than roasted ground coffee, because of the beverage residue present on the support.
British patent application GB 1 256 247 relates to a cartridge containing a substance suited for the preparation of a beverage. This cartridge is opened by deforming the lid of the cartridge using an external piston that collaborates with an internal puncturing element. This system is complicated to use in order to open the capsule at the correct moment.
The purpose of the present invention is to make available to the consumer a capsule which does not have this disadvantage, that is to say a capsule which can contain a wide variety of substances to be extracted as needs be, and which allows preparation and outflow of the beverage without there being a need for the beverage at any time to come into contact with part of the system.